Beyond the Darkness
by narglebrain
Summary: Chap.3 finally up! Grace and Luke are dating, sort of, but will darkness push them closer? Rated for alcohol abuse and sexual nature in later chapters Our first ever fanfic cowritten, see bio Please r&r. Pwetty please with a cherry on top. :
1. Alcohol and Ambulances

Beyond the Darkness

Grace opened her front door. Walking into the flat she was at once struck by the smell of alcohol… but she was used to that.

"Mom, Mom it's me. Where are you?"

Grace vaguely heard the sound of vomiting coming from the washroom… but she was used to that too.

"Oh mom, why do you have to keep doing this to yourself?"

"Shut up it gets me through the day, ok?"

Grace picks up a towel and tries to clean the sick of her mom's face.

"Just go away, leave me alone. Don't touch me!" Grace just left. She didn't have the energy to argue.

She went to bed alone and upset…she was used to that too.

_Next morning_

Grace didn't bother shouting her mom. She wouldn't answer back anyway.

She got up with the intention of calling Joan to plan something for the afternoon, besides; she needed Luke's chemistry notes. Her mum was crashed out on the sofa. She went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Mom, you need to drink this. Mom, wake up." There was no reaction. Grace's heart started to beat just a little faster. "Seriously you need to wake up now. Mom?" Grace shook her. Still nothing. She reached out and put two fingers on her mom's neck, checking for a pulse. Nothing.

Grace ran franticly into the sitting room and grabbed her cell phone. She picked out the keys 911.

"Yeah, I need an ambulance. Please come quick, she's not breathing!" She went back to her mothers lifeless form and remembering what the guy on the phone had told her, rolled her into the recovery position. As much as her mom had put her through she was still her mom. Her father (the Rabbi) had left for a late sermon last night and not yet got home. She didn't know what to do. She called the phone line at the synagogue knowing her dad didn't have his cell with him (it was on the table next to her) but that was engaged. So she left a message.

"Dad it's me. There's something wrong with mom. Just…just meet us at the hospital k?" Grace hung up, becoming aware of her hands shaking.

It seemed like a lifetime to Grace before her ears could pick out the sound of sirens in the distance. She rushed over to buzz them in.

a/n : This is our (mine and Hezziebob's) first ever chapter of our first ever fanfic. Please r&r (pwetty please). And don't worry, there's more. Oh yeah so we don't get sued- Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters (damn) however we do own the plot and Hezziebob's dads a lawyer so back off!


	2. Everything Has A Reason

_At the Hospital_

Grace sat alone in the relative's room of the hospital. Her eyes red and swollen. A man walks in. Grace recognises him as one of the guys who tried to save her mom. Tried to.

"Hey, you ok? You look as if you've been crying." Grace looked up at him with a sarcastic look.

"Right. Of course, I'm sorry, I…I'm not very good at this, I…"Grace could tell he was new and, in spite of herself, she smiled,

"Yeah I sorta guessed." Another guy walked in whom Grace didn't recognise.

"Your dad just called. He says he's sorry but he's going to be late he's going to be late, he's stuck in traffic. Oh, and there's someone at reception for you, say's her name's Joan?"

"Will you ask her if Luke knows? Tell her I want to see him."

"What do you mean she wants Luke! Did you tell her I was here? I'm her best friend!"

"Sorry lady, I just do as I'm told."

'Jeez, he is sooo new' Joan thought.

"Luke? Do we have a Luke Girardi here?"

"Me! That's me, how's she doing?" Luke looked almost as bad as Grace did, his eyes also red.

"She wants to see you." Joan stopped being annoyed and went back to being sympathetic to a friend. She gave her brother a quick hug before he followed the ambulance guy through the doors. Another guy walked over, a younger one.

"Hey Joan." God's usual sarcastic tone had mellowed into the most reserved tone she had ever heard him use. He sat in the seat next to her.

"It's you!" Joan got up and stood next to him, her voice aggressive and angry.

"What the hell do you think you were doing! You make me do all this crap, you manage to convince me you're not real only to turn up again, you let my best friend's mom just die! I hate you OK! Your system sucks!"

"Everything has a reason Joan." He said in an agonisingly calm voice that Joan want to scream.

"You…you…" All the words she wanted to scream out were constricting her throat, choking her.

"What's your reason then, eh? I hate you! Doesn't that mean _anything _to you?"

"Everything has a reason Joan."

A/N- You like? Sorry that they're so short but we're in stressful uni courses so all of our chapters will be short. Thanks to all our gorgeous, beautiful, marvellous reviewers so far but we did send more begging letters than that so shame on the rest of you! Review anyways we live for reviews they are our lives! Oh yeah so we don't get sued- **Disclaimer: **We do not own any of the characters (damn) however we do own the plot and Hezziebob's dads a lawyer so back off!

Ally and Hezziebob


	3. Blackout

Hello people! ducks from angry readers yelling and throwing stuff so here it is. Beyond the darkness chapter 3. Eagerly awaited by um… 7 people. You'd better give us some really nice, appreciative reviews now! Aw… you know we love you really (well not really because we don't, ya know, _know_ you, but you get our drift, we are drifting down a long river in Canada (in our heads only but still.)) We are also on happy pills (this is yet another opportunity for you to pick up on when we are _joking_, gullible people). Ok, so they (they being evil fanfic administrators, grr!) say you can't have a whole chapter of author's notes. Did they say anything about the notes being longer than the story? I don't think so.

Hezzie. The _story_. Remember? (Sorry people, she's on stuff. The net does strange things to people) :S

And is there anything about having a written conversation with your bezzie mate and co-writer instead of getting on with your story and then leaving it and publishing it just for the fun of it? No. I didn't think so.

Luke looked anxiously around the crowded synagogue. Everything was black. The clothes, the mood and the atmosphere, all pitch black. Grace stood by his side, their hands clasped tightly together. She had been persuaded to wear a skirt but she still had the leather jacket. Around her neck hung the necklace her mom had given her for her bar mitzvah. Luke had fastened the clasp.

_She's hardly said one word since the hospital. Isn't she supposed to have cried or screamed or collapsed or something? That, I can deal with… but this?_

Grace made a strange choking noise in her throat. She couldn't take this anymore. Watching her dad stand up there, barely able to speak but determinedly carrying on with his sermon. She had to get out. She tried her best not to look up as she ran out. The looks, concerned, disappointed, they were just about the last thing she needed. She knew her dad needed her there but she couldn't do it, just couldn't.

Joan watched her best friend run out of the synagogue. She tried to follow her without attracting any more attention. Why did she have to sit in the middle of her row?

"Grace? Grace, are you out here?"

"Stupid question Girardi," she said from behind one of the huge stone pillars that surrounded the building.

"Are you okay?"

"Again, stupid question."

If Joan didn't know better she would have though Grace was in a mood with her.

"So do you wanna talk about it or are you just gonna sit there? I know your hurting Grace but people need you in there. You have to go back."

"Just shut up Girardi. Okay? Shut up! And since when did you care all of a sudden?"

"Grace, of course I care, you're my best friend!"

"Oh yeah so you ignore me for the whole time Judith's here then as soon as she's gone, you're here for me? How the hell does that work Joan?"

"Grace…I can't believe you just said that! Judith is dead. Just like your mom. I thought you of all people would understand that now! Anyway, you had Luke. Since when did _you_ care whether or not I'm around? Have you ever really cared about me?"

Joan realises a second to late what she's just said. "Grace, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I…"

"Yeah you never mean anything, do you Joan? Poor Joan, always in the right, just trying to _help_. Just save it Joan, and leave me the hell alone."

Joan could feel the all-too-familiar feeling of tears rising. She walked away, leaving Grace behind her. She couldn't handle how right Grace sounded. Across the road she saw a hobo sat on the ground.

_He wouldn't._

She caught a glimpse of his face.

_Apparently he would._

He smiled, ever present and patronising. Joan had an unbelievable urge to wipe the smirk right of his face.

"What the hell is your deal? 'Everything has a reason Joan.'" She mimicked angrily. "I don't see a reason! I see Grace's mom dead, I see Judith dead, I see me being a complete bitch to Grace when she needs me most and I see you smiling at me as though you don't care. The only thing I don't see is your stupid reason! I have had just about as much as I can take of you, okay? I want my life back!"

"Sometimes you have to find the answers you need for yourself Joan. And I don't remember forcing you to shout at Grace."

Smack. Joan's hand thudded sharply across the side of his face. A stranger walked past and looks rather alarmed by her perception of what had just happened.

"You don't know," Joan spat at God, "Just how long I've wanted to do that.

"Yeah, actually. I do. You're not the first person to betray me Joan. You lack faith and you're frustrated. You've lost sight of why you're here. There is no magic fix for you Joan, only you can help yourself right now."

Joan walked away. Again. So she had hit God. The universe hadn't exploded; she hadn't zoomed straight down to hell. More than that he seemed as distant as ever, calm, unaffected. She just felt worse.

Luke walked out to the sound Grace's dad reading out the Kaddish.

"_May God's great name be blessed, forever and ever._

_May God's name be blessed, praised, glorified, revered, held in awe, acclaimed and revered- though it is higher than all the blessings, songs, praises and the consolations that can be spoken in this world. _

_May Heaven grant a universal peace and life for us and for all Israel, Amen."_

"Hey Grace…" He wraps her up in a huge and much needed hug.

"Joan yelled at me."

"Aw, sweetie."

"Hey! Take that back right now and I might be persuaded not to kill you. Painfully."

"_Grace_. Sorry Grace."

"Luke?"

"Um?"

"I don't know if I can go back in there."

"Sure you can," he slips his hand back through hers. "You have me."

"Luke?"

"Um?"

"Don't leave me."

"Grace, I'm always gonna be here, always."

Grace smiled in spite of everything else.

"Come on."

"What?" Luke asked, bewildered.

"Let's go inside."

And hand in hand, they walked back inside.

Ha! We are so evil! Muhahahaha!

Note from Hezzie, again, she (she being me) has had some sugar in the process of writing this so she can only get higher- We apologise for the shortness of yet another chapter but it's 11o'clock already and we have a movie to see. Not that our readers aren't our highest priority, obviously, but it's American Pie. The wedding so ya know… live with it.

We may update soon. Hehe.

Kisses- x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Anything to add to that Ally? Yes, No? Would you like to tell the world about a certain French tutor we have who is undeniably spawn of the devil?

He wears pink shirts people. And … interesting ties and likes to sing the Sound of Music and intercept our notes with bits of fanfics and waddeva and then decides to share them with the whole class. Nice guy. (Again with the _joking _people.)

Bye for real now. We promise. Can you see the Canadian geese yet ally?

Ally and Hezzie


	4. You're not here

Hey. This is hezziebob. Depending on whether or nor you read our stuff (those who don't usually: Grrrrrrrr!) you will know that we have a French teacher we don't like too much (just to clue you in, don't like too much hate) well anyways, here is a Mr. (we can't put your name on the net in case it's illegal) update. I know you don't actually care and those of you who do care don't actually care that much but we have things to say so live with it. So anyways. Last lesson, I had a new strategy. Don't speak to him, don't chew gum, don't pass notes, don't talk (much) and do work (some, mainly concerning aubergines but ah well) and hey hey! He only ridiculed me once in the whole hour. This is progress. I got to listen to his conversation with the people around us concerning the pros and cons of Metallica and the subtle difference between a mosher and a mosh mosh person. Très amusant. This strategy may be staying. Except the whole "no notes" thing. They are my life support in school Mr (we can't put your name on the net in case it's illegal). Hey hey. I'm gonna pass the laptop to Ally now. She's waiting patiently while I write wait… 218 words (219) of (220) authors (221) notes (222).

Yep. That's me. Patient as ever. So yeah. This is Ally by the way. Evilated French teacher is now called Mr. Efty. This is for 'Evilated French teacher' with a 'y' on the end because I'm in that kind of a mood. Hi sir! I'll say hi in case you're like, a closet fanfic addict. (God forbid). OK. I'm gonna start giving you review topics. These are what you must comment on when you review. (Well, the story too but…). Hm. Today's topic will be…pigeons. Pigeon's rock. You can tell us about your encounters with pigeons, your favourite colour, and variety of pigeon, whatever you like. All is welcome to do with the world of pigeons. I suppose it's only fair that I start it off. My little brother Robert was chasing a pigeon and it was trying to fly away from the evil little human and when it took off it hit an old woman. Hehe. I laughed. She scowled. Wasn't too good. Twas rather like the film called the Birds where the lady gets attacked by a load of seagulls and it got banned for being scary. Ooh! I'll have to tell you about the Seagull Dance next time. Tehe. Hey! I've got a little randomized fact for you. Did you know that pigeons are the direct descendants of the dinosaurs? So yeah. Your turn! (But read the story first though.) Um, oh yeah, the story.

They stood outside watching Grace's mom being lowered into the ground. She glanced over at the headstone across. Adam's mom. They had asked for the plot specially. Adam. The tears rolled down his face. Grace didn't know whom the tears were for. Grace could still remember the first time she saw him after Sarah died. She had never dreamed the situation would reverse itself. Everyone said it, "Adam must know what you're going through, you can talk to him."

Crap. All of it. It's completely different. And if nothing else, Adam got a letter. What do I get? A memory of a childhood that sucked. So many things I'll never get to say... I hate you. You screwed up my life. Even I love you. That hurts. It hurts so much I can't sleep and I scream when nobody hears me and I can't breathe and I can't eat and each second suffocates me because I can't look forward and I can't look back and I don't know what to do anymore and I got home yesterday and she wasn't there and I needed her to be there and I didn't care if she was drunk I just needed her to be there and I walked in and I couldn't smell sick and she wasn't crashed out on the sofa and she wasn't in bed and she wasn't anywhere and I couldn't cry because I couldn't think and I couldn't look back and I can't look forward and my thoughts are trying to strangle me and I want them to succeed to take the pain away and I want to die but I don't want to die and I don't know what I want and nothing makes sense any more.

"Grace?" Joan was behind her. The service had just finished.

"What do you want Girardi?" She said, not particularly bothered with the answer.

"Listen. Grace, I'm sorry, honestly I am and I shouldn't have said what I did and-"

"Just leave it okay? I don't wanna talk about it. Leave me alone."

"Grace? I…"

"Yeah, sorry, I've already heard it Joan, I get it."

Joan walked off leaving Grace alone by her mom's grave.

"I needed you mom. I needed you for the first time ever and you weren't there. Jeez this sucks. They all say that I'll learn to live without you and that the pain will go away. But it won't mom. It won't because you're not here. You never have been and…you never will be. You're gone. And you're not coming back." Grace got up. She traced her mom's name with her fingers, as if to say good bye, and left.

Alright be sympathetic with us now guys (this is Hezzie by the ways) School has been really hectic right now and their talking about exams and yada yada yada and I still can't remember what pie equals except that it's 3 something and if it comes up on a non calc paper then I'm screwed. So anyway, it's now officially morning and we have to be up and out in a scarily small number of hours and we're dropping from exhaustion and we've hit the floor from the sugar highs and I've hurt my shoulder and Al hurt her leg (a few days ago but I'm sure it still hurts, wait I'll ask her…

Ally shrugs then says, "Uh ok then." Points to screen then clocks on, "Am I, like, screaming in agony over it?" Ah, I love scripts in general…)

So here's where it gets good… we have really big holidays coming in a few weeks and if need be I will get Al to move in (she sleeps in a separate bed, ugh, you dirty minded people) for a week so we can deliver you something substantial for this story. We're not out of ideas we're just soooo tired. And we did start this at like, 1 o'clock, we haven't been up all night writing what… 3 paragraphs? Take pity on us? And roll on with the pigeon reviews. I know how mean this seems. Sorry. We will make it up to you. (Wow this AN makes me feel important… getting off the subject, again Hez. Sorry. Talking to myself, you understand. Unless you don't, in which case, you don't.) This is longer than the whole piece of writing twice over isn't it? Ah well. Buh bye 4 now.


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